Scientists Discover Hidden Deep-Sea Coral Reef Off South Carolina Coast (cnn.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: Little is known about the natural resources of the deep ocean off the United States' Southeast coast from Virginia to Georgia, so Deep Search 2018 was created to learn more by exploring the deep sea ecosystems. The project, consisting of scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the US Geological Survey, is nearing the end of its 15-day voyage aboard the research vessel Atlantis. A pair of dives in a submersible called Alvin confirmed the existence of the coral reef last week, and based on observations, researchers estimate the reef is at least 85 miles long. "This is a huge feature," expedition chief scientist Dr. Erik Cordes told HuffPost. "It's incredible that it stayed hidden off the US East Coast for so long." Cordes said the ecosystem is unlike anything he has seen, with "mountains" of corals.

Comments

Re:Hidden from whom?

[SqueakyMouse]

You mean you think that something fishy is going on here?

What depth are these coral reefs?

[ZombieEngineer]

Apparently the Great Barrier Reef has moved in and out from the Australian coast line as the sea levels have risen and fallen with each ice age. From memory the difference in sea levels is about 30 meters.

This reef could very well be a remanent coral reef from the last ice age and has evolved / adjusted to continue surviving at about 30 meters depth (which could also be the limit of light penetrating the ocean).

The largest ships (oil tankers / cruise ships) have a draft between 12 to 20 meters so there is sufficient clearance that if these reefs are indeed in 30+ meters depth of water that no-one would of paid any attention.

Re:What depth are these coral reefs?

[Oswald McWeany]

and has evolved / adjusted to continue surviving at about 30 meters depth (which could also be the limit of light penetrating the ocean).

Apparently the coral growing here is a little different to the ones nearer the water surface. They don't have a symbiotic relationship with algae like other coral- they feed on wee-beasties in the water so don't need sunlight. It is possible there is a lot more of this type of coral in the oceans than we know about.

Re:What depth are these coral reefs?

[dargaud]

Yes, there are actually deep water corals down to 2000m.

Re:Hidden from whom?

[MrMr]

It wasn't hidden from wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep-water_coral
There's even a picture from a coral from South Carolina dating to 2002

Alvin

[careysub]

One thing I thought interesting about this was something mentioned in the story in passing, the use of the submersible Alvin which has been in use longer than most /. readers have been alive. It was launched in 1964. It is something like the Ship of Theseus though, it has been through many upgrades and replacements including a new titanium pressure hull in 1973.